Invisible churches facts for kids

Invisible churches were secret Christian groups formed by enslaved African Americans in the United States. In these hidden churches, enslaved people listened to preachers they chose themselves, without their slaveholders knowing. The messages taught in invisible churches were different from those in white-controlled churches. They did not focus on obedience to slaveholders. While some enslaved people could not join these groups, and others disagreed with their messages, many found comfort and hope in the invisible churches.

What Were Invisible Churches?

Invisible churches were a special part of the slave community during the colonial and antebellum periods in the United States. They allowed enslaved and free African Americans to secretly practice their own version of Christianity. These secret gatherings were often held away from the watchful eyes of slaveholders.

Inside invisible churches, enslaved and free African Americans also practiced Hoodoo. Scholars describe Hoodoo as a folk religion created by enslaved African Americans. It helped protect them against their enslavers. This spiritual practice blended ideas from West and Central Africa with Christianity.

Scholars call the practice of Hoodoo within Black churches the "invisible institution." This is because enslaved people hid their culture and beliefs within the Christian religion. A scholar named E. Franklin Frazier first used this term to describe the hidden spiritual life on slave plantations.

European slave traders did not allow enslaved and free Black people to practice their traditional African religions. So, they hid many of these practices within invisible churches. White American slaveholders also made slave codes that stopped large groups of enslaved and free Black people from gathering. Slaveholders worried that slave religion could lead to revolts. Some leaders of slave uprisings were Black ministers or spiritual healers.

For example, the Code Noir in French colonial Louisiana made it illegal for enslaved Africans to practice their traditional religions. Article III of the Code Noir said: "We forbid any public exercise of any religion other than Catholic." These laws forced enslaved and free African Americans to hold their spiritual practices in secret, in invisible churches.

Plantation Churches and Secret Meetings

Scholars sometimes call invisible churches "plantation churches" because they began on plantations during slavery. Many of these churches were not in buildings. Instead, they met secretly in the woods. These outdoor meeting places were called brush arbors or hush arbors. People had to be very quiet or "hush" their church services in nature to avoid being caught.

Enslaved people faced harsh punishments if they were caught at a hush harbor meeting. Slaveholders worried about revolts and riots if enslaved people gathered. African American churches taught that all people were equal in God's eyes. They focused on messages of equality and hope for a better future.

African-American spirituals (also known as Negro Spirituals) were created in both invisible and visible Black churches. The melodies and rhythms of these hymns sounded like songs from West Africa. Enslaved and free Black people created their own words and tunes. Their songs spoke of the difficulties of slavery and the hope of freedom.

Spirituals from slavery are also called Slave Shout Songs. Today, Gullah Geechee people and other African Americans still sing these songs in churches. During slavery, these slave shout songs were coded messages. They spoke of escaping slavery on the Underground Railroad. When slaveholders heard their enslaved people singing in the fields, they did not know they were communicating secret messages of escape.

For example, the slave shout song, Walk, Believer, Walk, Daniel, talks about Daniel, a Biblical figure, taking flight. This message of "flight" in the song was about escaping slavery. Harriet Tubman sang coded messages to her mother and other enslaved people in the fields. She let them know she was escaping on the Underground Railroad. Tubman sang: "I'm sorry I'm going to leave you, farewell, oh farewell; But I'll meet you in the morning, farewell, oh farewell, I'll meet you in the morning, I'm bound for the promised land, On the other side of Jordan, Bound for the Promised Land."

Inside slave community churches, the main message of the Invisible Church was: "God wants you free!"

The spiritual practices inside plantation churches (invisible churches) were based on African traditions. Enslaved and free Black people practiced the ring shout, spirit possession, and other lively forms of worship, along with Hoodoo. African-American root workers and conjurers saw themselves as Christian. They mixed Hoodoo with Christianity. To bring healing, spirits, and protection, they used Bible scriptures and prayer along with roots, herbs, and animal parts.

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, a famous scholar, studied African-American churches in the early 1900s. He believed that the early Black church during slavery was influenced by Voodooism.

Historians say that "invisible churches" were where Nat Turner planned his slave revolt in Virginia in 1831. Other slave revolts were also planned in invisible churches. Enslaved African Americans discussed escaping slavery on the Underground Railroad and planned revolts in these secret church meetings.

This practice among enslaved people created a Hoodoo Christian church. It was a Hoodoonized version of Christianity on slave plantations. Enslaved Africans would escape into the woods at night. There, they practiced a mix of African spirituality and Christianity in their invisible churches. Hoodoo offered a different view from European American Christianity. Enslaved African Americans reinterpreted Christianity to fit their situation as enslaved people. For example, God was seen as powerful and able to help free enslaved people.

This created an "invisible institution" on slave plantations. Enslaved Africans practiced the ring shout, spirit possession, and healing rituals. They hoped to receive messages from spirits about freedom. These practices were done in secret, away from slaveholders. Nat Turner had visions and signs that he believed came from spirits. He said these spirits told him to start a rebellion to free enslaved people through armed resistance. Turner combined African spirituality with Christianity. This blend of African spirituality and Christianity inside these churches created a unique type of Christianity among enslaved and free Black people. It was called Afro-Christianity or African-American Christianity. These practices became the foundation of the Black church we know today.

How the Black Church Grew

An African-American Episcopal priest, George Freeman Bragg, wrote in his historical journal that the Black Episcopal Church began as invisible churches during slavery. After the Civil War, these churches became visible. Other Christian churches for African Americans also started as invisible churches during slavery.

Over time, many African-American churches became more Christian and less influenced by Hoodoo and Vodun. However, some parts of African rituals survived in African American Baptist churches and praise houses. These include shouting, lively forms of praise and worship with singing, clapping, music with drumming, and call-and-response.

Stories from Formerly Enslaved People

Slave narratives are recorded stories from formerly enslaved people. They tell about their experiences of slavery in the United States. In the 1930s, the Federal Writers' Project, part of the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression, hired unemployed writers. Their job was to write down and collect the experiences of former slaves.

Black and white writers documented the stories of the last generation of African Americans born into slavery. Former African American slaves told writers about their experiences. This gave readers a look into the lives and culture of African Americans during slavery. The Library of Congress has over 2,300 first-person accounts from former slaves in its digital archive.

From these collections, African Americans shared how they had secret church meetings. For example, enslaved people found ways to make less noise during their services. A former slave in Arkansas named John Hunter said the enslaved people went to a secret house only they knew. They turned iron pots face up, and their slaveholder could not hear them. Enslaved people also placed sticks under wash pots, about a foot from the ground. This helped to quiet their noise, as the sound went into the pots.

A former slave named Taylor said that when he was enslaved, his slaveholder hired a white preacher. This preacher told the enslaved people to obey their masters. He said: "...Serve your masters. Don't steal your master's turkey. Don't steal your master's chickens. Don't steal your master's hawgs. Don't steal your master's meat. Do what-someever your master tells you to do."

Taylor later said that the enslaved people would have secret church meetings at night. This was because what the white preacher said was not what enslaved people believed. They believed God would free them from slavery. Taylor and the other enslaved people prayed in whispers so no one would hear their church services.

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  Hoodoo and Voodoo practices were hidden in Invisible churches during slavery to protect enslaved and free Black people.